Increases in survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: A five year study

Objective

This study reports improvements in survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in London over a five year period from 2007 to 2012 and explores the potential reasons for the very striking increases observed.

Methods

Data from the London Ambulance Service's cardiac arrest registry from 2007 to 2012 were analysed retrospectively for all patients who met the Utstein comparator group criteria (an arrest of a presumed cardiac cause that was bystander witnessed with an initial rhythm of VF/VT).

Results

We observed an increase in survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest during the five year period, with incremental improvements each year from 12% to 32% for the Utstein comparator group of patients.

Conclusion

We suggest that a range of important changes made to pre-hospital cardiac care in London over the last five years have contributed to the observed increase in survival over the study period. In addition we advocate a range of further initiatives to continue improving survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.